Wolverine
Wolverine, born James Howlett, better known as Logan, is a mutant and member of the X-Men. History Early Life As a boy, James Howlett was notably frail and prone to bouts of allergic attacks, he spent most of his early years on the estate grounds and had two playmates that lived on the Howlett estate with him: Rose, a red-headed girl who was brought in from town to be a companion to young James, and a boy nicknamed "Dog," the groundskeeper's son. The groundskeeper, Thomas Logan was an alcoholic and was extremely abusive to his son. The children were close friends but as they reached young adulthood, the abuse inflicted upon Dog warped his mind. Dog made unwanted advances toward Rose, which James reported to his father. In retaliation Dog killed James' puppy, in turn leading to the expulsion of Thomas Logan and Dog from the estate. Thomas Logan, in a drunken stupor, invaded the Howlett estate with his son and attempted to take Elizabeth Howlett (implied to be his former lover) with him. John Jr attempted to stop him and Thomas Logan shot him down in cold blood. James Howlett had just entered the room when this occurred and for the first time his mutation manifested; his claws extended from the backs of his hands and he attacked the intruders with uncharacteristic ferocity, killing Thomas Logan, and scarring Dog's face with three claw marks. Elizabeth Howlett, who was already an emotionally disturbed woman since her first son's mysterious death, took her life immediately afterward with a blast from Thomas' gun. Fearing for their safety, Rose fled the estate with James, who appeared to have been deeply traumatized and had somehow repressed or forgotten most of the memories of life back at the estate. Dog falsely reported to the police and John Sr. that Rose had murdered John Howlett Jr and Thomas Logan. The eldest Howlett shunned James and, with no family left, took Dog in as his ward. However, Dog was already a burgeoning psychopath and it was too late for his character to evolve down any other path. In the years that followed, James and Rose took refuge in a British Columbia mining colony under the guise of being cousins. James also assumed the name of "Logan" in order to hide his identity. As the hard work of mining toughened his body, and his mutant powers developed, he grew to be unusually strong and ferocious. He was immune to the elements and even ran with the wolves in the forest, learning to hunt as an animal hunts. "Logan" became a valuable and admirable figure amongst the small community of miners due to his hard work and strong ethics, earning him the respect of his peers, including the foreman Smitty, who became a surrogate father figure to James. During this period, James developed strong feelings for Rose, but could not act on them for the sake of their guise as cousins. Smitty, who had been mentoring James all these years, had also grown close to Rose, and the two eventually fell in love and became engaged, much to the scorn and surprise of James, who later accepted the situation for the sake of Rose's happiness. Meanwhile, his grandfather, John Howlett Sr, was in failing health and asked Dog to find Rose and his grandson so he could make peace with them before he died. Dog agreed. However, Dog (who had become a physically formidable man himself) decided to track them down so he could kill James. Dog hunted James and Rose down so easily that it seemed he had a preternatural skill for tracking. On the night that Smitty was due to leave the mining town with Rose, Dog (who bore an uncanny resemblance to Logan's future nemesis, Sabretooth) finally found and confronted James. Dog reminded James of his past, and that faiteful night back on the estate that had changed all their lives so. The two fought fiercely in the middle of the street and, despite being the physically stronger of the two, Dog was eventually overpowered by the enraged James. As Dog lay unconscious, James unsheathed his claws for the first time in public (to the shock of everyone watching) and was about to deal the deathblow when Rose leaped in to stop him but was accidentally impaled by his claws. Horrified, "Logan" held her in his arms as she died. He then fled into the woods where he lived in self-imposed exile with a pack of wolves, presumably for many years. Logan's healing factor granted him an extended life span and had endowed him the physical condition of a man in his prime, despite his age. Return to Civilization Apparently, Wolverine returned to civilization sometime later, as he met Nick Fury, Captain America, and a young Black Widow fighting the Nazis in Madripoor and Europe during World War II. Afterward, he joined the Canadian Army and participated in D-Day, as well as the liberation of the Netherlands. He may have also been a spy for the Allied Forces and it was recently revealed that he may have spent time in the Sobibor concentration camp. Wolverine had strong memories of loving the Native American woman, Silver Fox, and living with her in a cabin before they were recruited into Team X, but whether or not these memories were true would tantalize him for a long time before he finally learned the truth. On his birthday, Sabretooth, who lived in the same town that Wolverine lived in, apparently killed Silver Fox. Years later, Logan resurfaced as a federal agent. During the 1960s, he was placed on a government Black Ops team with Sabretooth, Maverick, Kestrel, Mastodon, and Silver Fox. Team X was apparently disbanded after a botched mission concerning Omega Red. Sometime after World War II, Logan was taken by a group of scientists led by Dr. Cornelius as part of the Weapon X Project. Cornelius was hired to perfect and use a technique that would bond the indestructible element adamantium to human bone cells. Logan's skeleton was bonded to the adamantium, and he was indoctrinated into the Weapon X assassin program. He was a super-agent of Canada's Department H, which the Hudsons worked for, and was dispatched to halt the destruction caused by the Hulk and the Wendigo, who were locked in a savage fight. His speed and maneuverability proved to be a match for the two plodding powerhouses, and he managed to take out the Wendigo after Hulk gained the upper hand, throwing the Wendigo into a patch of trees. The Hulk and Wolverine kept on fighting, with the Hulk emerging victorious. Hulk abandoned the unconscious Wolverine, unaware of his healing factor. The defeated Wolverine returned to Department H. X-Men After his encounter with the Hulk, Wolverine was conscripted by Department H to join and lead Alpha Flight, Canada's government-run super team. During his leadership of Alpha Flight, Wolverine was approached by Professor Charles Xavier, who was looking for mutants to help his students, the X-Men, escape from the island-being known as Krakoa, which had captured them. Wolverine left Alpha Flight to accompany Xavier and rescue the captured X-Men. After Krakoa was defeated, Wolverine decided to stay with the X-Men, for reasons which included that he had fallen for Marvel Girl. Logan remained with the X-Men for quite some time, at one time being their field commander, and encountered adversaries such as Proteus, Magneto, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Brood, the Reavers, demons from the dimension of Limbo, the Marauders, the Morlocks, and even Dracula on one occasion. Romantically interested in Jean Grey, but unable to requite his love, Wolverine later fell in love with and became engaged to Lady Mariko Yashida, heir to an extremely powerful Yakuza family in Tokyo. Wolverine revealed that he was able to fluently speak Japanese, surprising her with the contrast to his often savage exterior. Wolverine later traveled to Japan to confront his ex-mentor, Ogun, along with Kitty Pryde. Years before, Ogun was defeated in combat, and ever since, his malicious spirit has had to find host bodies. Ogun captured Kitty, and Logan used his training to help her overcome his evil, forcing him from her body. Afterwards, Logan and Kitty became very close friends, with her as a near-foster daughter to him. Wolverine was forced to kill her father, Lord Shingen, in a duel. Mariko and Logan became estranged due to the honor customs of her family, as well as the manipulations of the villain Mastermind. In a fight between the X-Men and a giant dragon over Tokyo, a young girl's mother was killed. Wolverine took it upon himself to watch over the girl, Amiko, who to this day Logan tries to visit, although she is currently under the care of his close friend and sometimes lover Yuriko. When the X-Men temporarily relocated to the Australian Outback, Wolverine took the runaway mutant Jubilee under his wing, after she saved his life from an attack by Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers. She eventually became like a daughter to him, much like Kitty before. Wolverine also spent a lot of time in the seedy areas of Madripoor, under the false identity of 'Patch'. While based in Australia, a man would ask Wolverine to go to the Savage Land, where he encountered a tribe of humans. Arriving in a lightweight plane, the tribe believed him a god, with the exception of Gahck, the tribe's female chieftain. Gahck challenged Wolverine to combat, and once it was established that he wasn't a god, he offered to help their hunting parties. Logan subsequently started a relationship with Gahck. When members of the tribe were captured, Wolverine discovered that a robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex would attack the tribe and take their members to a secret base. Wolverine discovered that experiments were performed on the tribe members by Apocalypse, and after freeing himself and the captured Gahck, he battled Apocalypse, though it turned out to be a robot. In the Apocalypse robot's lab, Logan learned that Apocalypse was the man who had told him to journey to the Savage Land. Wolverine then left, not realizing that he had fathered a son with Gahck named Erista. After the X-Men returned to the United States, Wolverine finally returned to the Weapon X base in Canada. There, he inadvertently activated the Shiva program, which was designed to kill rogue Weapon X graduates. Wolverine also became much darker, as he learned many of his memories were implants. Wolverine then finally reunited with Mariko, who had refused to reconcile her love with Logan until her clan was cleansed of all illegal activities. However, almost immediately after they were reunited, she was promptly poisoned by a Yakuza assassin working for Matsu'o, a business man who bore a great grudge against Wolverine. Mariko asked Wolverine to end her life quickly rather than let her die a slow and painful death from the toxin. Wolverine reluctantly complied. This changed Wolverine's character significantly, making him even more disciplined and emotionally distant. Wolverine then vowed to Matsu'o that on each and every one of his birthdays he would slice off a body part until there was nothing of him left. Shortly after Mariko's death, he rejoined his former Team X members Silver Fox, Sabretooth, Maverick, John Wraith, and Mastodon, with Jubilee, and Hines of the Weapon X Program, in hunting down Aldo Ferro a.k.a Vole, a powerful psi-talent who brainwashed many of them for Weapon X. Wolverine was shocked to learn that Silver Fox was still alive. To his surprise, Silver Fox despised him for something she believed he had done. She was subsequently killed by Sabretooth, who was controlled by Ferro, before Wolverine could figure out what she believed he had done. Ferro himself died soon afterward. After his encounter with the mutant assassin Omega Red, Logan began to question the memories he possessed, but his searches to find his true identity and memories proved fruitless. Logan possessed memories of being a Samurai in Japan, a mercenary operative for the CIA, and a "wild man" in the Canadian wilderness. He also had remembered romances with Mariko Yashida and Silverfox. Wolverine suffered a mental breakdown which stemmed from the deaths of Mariko and Silver Fox and Weapon X's mental tampering. Due to extensive memory implants given to Logan through the Weapon X Project, any or all of these memories are suspect. Logan has at least one memory of meeting Captain America in World War II while he was in the Canadian Army which has been verified as true. During an encounter with the mutant Magneto on his space station called Avalon, Wolverine slashed Magneto with his claws. Magneto retaliated, using his powers of the magnetic field to tear the adamantium out of Wolverine's skeleton, causing extensive injuries. These injuries shorted out Wolverine's healing factor for a time, and Logan also discovered that the claws that he believed a result of the Weapon X program were in fact part of his actual bone structure due to his mutation. These bone claws became Wolverine's main weapons until his skeleton later became grafted to adamantium again. As a result of his injuries, Logan left the X-Men for a time. He visited Muir Island at the request of Kitty Pryde, and was also attacked by Cyber. During the Phalanx invasion, Logan and Cable were asked by Charles Xavier to find and rescue the captured X-Men. They joined with Cyclops and Jean Grey, returning from their honeymoon (and secretly the future), and freed their teammates in Tibet. Later, Logan was kidnapped by Tyler Dayspring, calling himself Genesis, who wanted to make Wolverine one of his new Horsemen. Genesis had acquired adamantium by destroying the body of the mercenary known as Cyber, and had planned to recreate the bonding process used on Logan years ago. This time, however, Logan's body rejected the adamantium, and he regressed for a time to a feral-like state. Logan regained his lucidity and rejoined the X-Men. Logan was subsequently kidnapped by the would-be conqueror Apocalypse and forced to fight the savage assassin Sabretooth for the mantle of the Horseman Death. Knowing that he might be able to resist Apocalypse's programming and that Sabretooth would be a very dangerous villain with the support of Apocalypse, Logan fought and defeated his nemesis. As a result, his skeleton again was laced with Adamantium. Under the control of Apocalypse, Wolverine fought the X-Men ferociously in his Death persona. But with the help of his teammates, he eventually broke free from Apocalypse's control. While on the Weapon Plus satellite, Logan was able to access detailed files on his past. However, it was a trap, and only Jean's manifestation of the Phoenix was able to save them. Wolverine greatly mourned Jean's loss and was not pleased with Cyclops' and Emma Frost's relationship, but he has remained a valued member of the X-Men, serving on as many missions as he can while also doing solo operations. Wolverine was ambushed by The Hand and HYDRA. Transformed into a killing machine and outfitted with several devices, he battled various other heroes. He stabbed both Hornet and Northstar. SHIELD was able to deprogram Logan. While on a mission in the Savage Land, he met the recently reformed Avengers and eventually accepted membership. As a result of the House of M, Wolverine regained all of his memories, finally being able to sort between what was true and implanted. He was last seen traveling to Japan in an attempt to come to terms with his past. He went to visit the Silver Samurai, who serves as a guard to the prime minister of Japan. Wolverine battled with Silver Samurai, cutting his hand in the process. Later, he visited the site of the original Weapon X program, which led to a clash with Captain America regarding a man named Bucky, who apparently killed Wolverine's wife, the Japanese Itsu, and unborn child. Bucky apologized to Wolverine, telling him that he was not in control of his actions at the time. Wolverine then began to reminisce about his wife, a Japanese woman named Itsu, and the events that led up to him meeting her. After WWII, but before he had been given his Adamantium skeleton by Weapon X, Wolverine trained under the martial arts master Ogun. After completing his training, Ogun sent Wolverine to a village where another master, Bando Saburo, taught men who had been made into weapons how to become men once more. There Wolverine met Itsu and they fell in love, eventually marrying and conceiving a child together. Saburo's village was surrounded by mountains belonging to the demon sword smith Muramasa. After Bucky's murder of Itsu, Wolverine, believing it was the people of the village who had killed his pregnant wife, pledged his allegiance to the demon. Muramasa boasted that he would make a sword in honor of Wolverine, one that could defeat even him. Through unknown means, Muramasa began the process, which Weapon X most likely completed, that made Wolverine into a living weapon. What followed remains unclear, but Wolverine apparently returned to North America where he met Silver Fox for the first time. It can then be gathered that following Silver Fox's murder, he was recruited by Team X and then given his Adamantium skeleton by Weapon X. After remembering this, Wolverine went back to Muramasa's mountain and reclaimed the Muramasa Blade which belonged to him. Muramasa willingly gave the sword to Wolverine and told him to "wield it like an angry god". Currently, Wolverine wants revenge, and he now remembers who deserves his vengeance. After the destruction of Stamford by the supervillain Nitro, which starts the events known as Civil War, Wolverine goes after Nitro himself. Although the X-Men are neutral in this conflict, Wolverine, also a member of the Avengers, leads a SHIELD team to aprehend Nitro. This goes badly, with Wolverine as the only survivor, and a conflict with several Atlantean guards, and the king of Atlantis himself, Namor. Nitro is eventually brought to Atlantis, where he loses a hand to Wolverine's adamantium claws. Post-Civil War, Wolverine joins the new New Avengers, and goes renegade with the likes of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ronin, and Doctor Strange. Characteristics Wolverine is a gruff warrior-poet and has a strong sense of personal honor. Wolverine also established himself quickly as the X-Man most willing to permanently deal with their adversaries; "I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice." He has developed close friendships with his teammates Nightcrawler, whose personality diametrically opposes Wolverine's, and Colossus, who often performs the "fastball special" with him. He has been something of a father figure to Kitty Pride, Rogue and Jubilee. He has loved many women, including Rose, Itsu, Silver Fox, Jean Grey, and Mariko Yashida. Powers and Abilities Powers Wolverine is a Beta-Level mutant. Regenerative Healing Factor: Wolverine's primary mutant power is an accelerated healing process that enables him to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with far greater efficiency than an ordinary human. Wolverine's accelerated healing powers have been commonly referred to as his mutant healing factor. Originally, the speed at which Wolverine healed was in proportion to the wound's severity; for example, he could fully recover from multiple gunshot wounds within minutes, but it took him several weeks to fully recover from injuries sustained in a duel with Lord Shingen, including one wound from a sword that completely pierced his trunk. It should be noted that Shingen had saturated Logan's body with poison at the time which inhibited the efficiency of his healing factor. However, Wolverine's healing ability has dramatically increased in recent years. Wolverine is now capable of fully healing injuries that result in massive tissue loss or damage such as multiple gunshot wounds, slashes, punctures, and severe burns within a matter of moments. Wolverine fully regenerates his entire body after having all of his bodily tissue incinerated down to his bare skeleton. This power even amends psychological wounds inflicted as a result of traumatic experiences. However, Wolverine's healing powers force his mind to suppress the memories, sometimes resulting in amnesia. Foreign Chemical Immunity: Wolverine's natural healing also affords him the virtual immunity to poisons and most drugs, except in massive doses. For example, it is extremely difficult for him to become intoxicated from alcohol. Immunity To Disease: Wolverine's highly efficient immune system, which is part of his accelerated healing factor, renders him immune against all known Earthly diseases and infections. Superhuman Stamina: Wolverine's mutant healing factor grants him high immunity against the fatigue toxins generated by his muscles during physical activity. Wolverine can sustain himself a peak capacity for several days. Wolverine has shown himself capable of fighting Omega Red for over 18 hours, despite regular exposure to Omega Red's death spores. Superhuman Reflexes: Wolverine's bodily reaction time is accelerated to levels beyond the human body's natural limits. He has been known to dodge Cyclops' optic beams at point blank range. Superhuman Agility: Wolverine's agility, bodily coordination, and balance are enhanced to levels beyond the human body's natural limits. Insulated Weather Adaptation: Wolverine's body is highly resistant to certain elemental extremes, particularly cold, to the extent that he can sleep nude in subarctic conditions with no apparent injury. Retarded Aging: In addition, Wolverine's healing factor provides him with an extended lifespan by slowing the effects of the aging process. Wolverine was born sometime in the late 19th Century. Although well over 100 years of age, Wolverine retains the appearance and physical vitality of a man in the physical prime of his life. Superhumanly Acute Senses: Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. He can see at far greater distances, with perfect clarity, than an ordinary human. He retains this same level of clarity even in near total darkness. His hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, allowing him to detect sounds ordinary humans can't or to hear at much greater distances. He is able to recognize people and objects by scent, even if they are well hidden. He can track a target by scent, even if the scent has been greatly eroded by time and weather factors, with an extraordinary degree of success. Wolverine can also use his keen sense of smell to detect lies due to chemical changes within a person's scent. These senses stem from, at least partially, his constant cellular regeneration, as are his enhanced physical capabilities. Superhuman Strength: Wolverine's Mutant Healing Factor enables him to push his muscles beyond the natural limits of the human body without injury, granting him some degree of superhuman strength. His natural strength is augmented by the demand placed on his musculature due to the presence of adamantium bonded to his skeleton, which also removes the natural limitations of the human skeletal structure by allowing him to lift weights that would damage a human skeleton. Wolverine has been depicted with sufficient strength to break steel chains and he supports the weight of a dozen men with one arm. Adamantium Claws: Wolverine's skeleton includes six retractable one-foot-long Adamantium claws, three in each arm, that are housed beneath the skin and muscle of his forearms. Wolverine can, at will, release these slightly curved claws through his skin beneath the knuckles on each hand. The skin between the knuckles tears and bleeds, but the blood loss is quickly halted by his healing factor. Wolverine can unsheathe any number of his claws at once, although he must keep his wrists straight at the moment his claws pass from his forearms into his hands. When unsheathed, the claws are entirely within his hands, allowing him to bend his wrists when they are extended. The claws are made of adamantium, the most powerful metal capable of cutting through almost any substance. The claws are sharp and dense enough to slice through substances as durable as most metals, wood, and stone. Psionic Resistance: Wolverine reveals that his mind is now highly resistant to telepathic probing and assault due to high level psionic shields implanted in his mind by Professor Charles Xavier. Abilities Master Tactician: Though seemingly brutish, Wolverine is intelligent. When Forge monitored Wolverine's vitals during a Danger Room training session, he reported Logan's physical and mental state as "equivalent to an Olympic-level gymnast performing a Gold-medal-winning routine whilst simultaneously beating four chess computers in his head", which gives something of an idea of the level of sophistication and tactical processing Logan is capable of utilizing while in combat. Master Martial Artist: Wolverine has extraordinary hand-to-hand combat ability, and, alongside Captain America and Taskmaster, is considered one of the finest combatants on Earth. Due to his extensive training as a soldier, a C.I.A. operative, a samurai, a spy, and a member of the X-Men, Wolverine is an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant, having mastered virtually every fighting style on Earth and is also well versed in the art of espionage. Advanced Covert Ops Expert: Due to his experience traveling the world and working for various government agencies, Wolverine is also a trained expert in multiple types of weapons, vehicles, computer systems, explosives, and assassination techniques. Multi-lingual: Wolverine is fluent in many languages including English, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Cheyenne, Lakota, and Spanish; he has some knowledge of French, German, Thai, and Vietnamese. With his increased lifespan and journeys across the globe, he has been able to amass an intimate knowledge of many foreign customs and cultures. His exploits have further endowed him with vast awareness of literature and philosophy. Strength level As a result of Wolverine's constant cellular regeneration and the additional weight and tensile strength of his skeleton he has some degree of superhuman strength enabling him to press somewhere in excess of 800 lbs and no more than 2 tons. Weaknesses Wolverine has no known weaknesses, but frequently suffers minor psychological trauma as the women in his life die frequently. Paraphernalia Equipment: As Death, Logan was given an armor to wear and conceal his true identity. Normally he wears a standard X-Men uniform or street clothes. His gloves often have grooves in the forearm so they do not tear when he unsheathes his claws. Adamantium Laced Skeleton: Not part of Wolverine's natural mutant attributes, Wolverine's entire skeleton, including his bone claws, is laced with the rare, artificial, and virtually indestructible alloy known as Adamantium. As a result, Wolverine's bones are virtually unbreakable. The presence of the Adamantium has further enhanced the already razor sharp edge of Wolverine's bone claws. Aside from being practically indestructible, the claws are capable of cutting any solid material, with the known exception of Adamantium itself and the material of Captain America's shield. However, Wolverine's ability to slice completely through a substance depends upon the thickness of the substance and the amount of force he can exert. The Adamantium also weights his blows, dramatically increasing the effectiveness of his punches and kicks. Transportation: Wolverine commonly uses a motorcycle when he is acting as a solo agent. He has access to the X-Men Blackbird whilst with the team. He also owns a Jeep that he uses at the X-mens estate. Weapons: Throughout his life, Wolverine has used a variety of bladed weapons, most frequently daggers and, at times, swords; as a samurai, he is especially skilled with the katana. He has also wielded many different types of firearms throughout his careers as a soldier, a mercenary, and a spy. While he is highly skilled with firearms, he has stated on multiple occasions that he isn't fond of them and prefers to use bladed weapons. He has been shortly carrying the Muramasa, but, in Wolverine Origins 4, he passed it to Cyclops, so he could use it against him, should there be no other way of stopping Logan. Movies X-Men In the X-Men Movie, Wolverine is found searching for his past when he finds Rogue, a young woman who actually takes to him and they begin to become friends. Rogue is eventually captured and Logan is the first one to want to rescue her from the clutches of Magneto, which he eventually succeeds, but with the price of nearly getting killed himself. In the movie's finale, he leaves, but not before he tells her he'll be back for his dog tags which he gives her. X-Men 2: X-Men United X-Men 3: The Last Stand X-Men Origins:Wolverine Wolverine is a Spin-Off Movie in which Logan tries to find out more of his past and possibly even get revenge. The film is set 17 years before the first x-men film. ' Category:Characters Wolverine